An alumna of Clarion West Writer’s Workshop for science fiction and fantasy, I’ve written for markets like The New York Times and Time Out New York. Currently, I write about sci-fi for Blastr. I also edit the humor competition for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and here at Forbes.

The space agency is looking for applicants to eat astronaut food for four months during a simulated trip to the Red Planet. Participants will try instant foods, and ones with shelf-stable ingredients, and scientists will record their reactions. The goal of the experiment is to discover what foods people like to consume consistently.

Astronaut ice cream aside, limited supplies (such as flour, sugar and dried meat), and no chance of fresh food limits the space-based diet. This study will gauge if participants can avoid “menu fatigue,” that is, becoming tired of eating the same foods. The study background states that if menu fatigue occurs, astronauts’ “overall food intake declines, putting them at risk for nutritional deficiency, loss of bone and muscle mass, and reduced physical capabilities.”

There are a few catches, of course. Among others, you have to have a bachelor’s degree in either math, engineering, biological or physical sciences, or computer science; you have to be a non-smoker; you have to speak English. Then if you are chosen, you have to live astronaut-style: in a small enclosure with strangers, with limited showers, writing daily reports.

But in addition to the free food, those chosen for the study will be given cooking classes and taught to work in space’s microgravity environment. They will also earn round-trip travel to Hawaii, lodgings…and $5,000.

There also seems to be a lot of down-time in this study. But hey, you won’t be slacking. You’ll be hanging out…for science!

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They aught to try just giving food to cruising sailors. I spent a couple years sailing across the pacific ocean in a small sailboat. I would have been very happy just to have the free food, I had limited capabilities for fresh food (didn’t have refrigeration on the boat). I was accustomed to keeping a log book at sea anyway, and was subject to some of the other conditions of living on a space ship (tight living quarters, motion sickness, etc).